Mark McGrath reflects upon his 8 years as a Troy City Councilman

In this file photo from Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009, then-Troy City Councilman Mark McGrath, R-District 2, was among the candidates who attended a “Meet the Candidates” event held at the Troy CYO.
J.S. Carras — The Record

TROY >> Mark McGrath never intended to get into politics. He also never planned to become a Republican.

But McGrath, a Republican who represented District 2 on the City Council, had to leave after 8 years of service when his term expired at the end of last year. During his tenure, McGrath learned a lot about human nature. One of those lessons was: You learn everyday.

“The thing about being on the council is you think you know everything,” McGrath said. “But every day there’s a new problem.”

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McGrath was born and raised in Troy, and moved into Lansingburgh after having two children with his wife, Hilary, in the early 1990s. That’s when he began experiencing problems with people speeding on the street near his home. He then reached out to his council person, then Councilwoman Cathy Conroy, to help out with the situation

Bob Mirch, the former city Public Works Department commissioner and longtime Republican operative, was sent over and put up four stop signs to address the issue.

According to McGrath, although Mirch was a Democrat at the time, he soon asked McGrath if he would run as a conservative to help then Mayor Mark Pattison gain the conservative line in his bid for mayor.

It wasn’t until 15 years later when he was asked again, by former county Republican Committee Chairman Neil Kelleher, to run, that McGrath finally decided to enter politics.

As with some council members, many will come in with grand ideas of new initiatives to introduce on the council, but McGrath said he quickly learned that wasn’t the point of being a councilman. What he soon learned was the job was a daily one where you were dealing with various resident complaints that ranged from a sidewalk in disrepair to a house in which occupants had become a nuisance.

But McGrath never seemed to mind dealing with those issues.

“There was nothing better than getting sidewalks done, having garbage picked up or getting a house vacated by code enforcement,” McGrath said. “And there was a lot of that. It was daily.”

There was one issue McGrath recalled addressing when North Central was experiencing a rash of homicides. It was during the summer and McGrath said he noticed a lot of kids hanging out with nothing to do, which he said could only spell trouble.

In an effort to keep them occupied, McGrath said he worked with then Mayor Harry Tutunjian and Deputy Mayor Dan Crawley to open up the Frear Park ice rink for summer hours. The result, he said, was a positive one.

“We offered them breakfast and lunch,” McGrath said. “We had over 100 kids a day during the summer.”

But a lengthy career in politics in the city doesn’t come without its pitfalls. McGrath remembered one moment during his career he said he truly regretted. When the city was looking for a project with the former Haskell School building during his second term, McGrath said he was able to find a developer he thought could get the job done: Mike Snyder, a Boston resident.

Even with all of the grand plans Snyder presented before the Planning and Zoning boards, McGrath said the project never came to fruition. It was the one moment he said he seriously regretted when he was on the council.

“I was heavy handed with the administration,” McGrath said. “They said, ‘You’re right. We’re going to take a chance with ya,’ and it failed. It never materialized.”

It was a learning moment for McGrath, but he said he considered it a hard lesson, though he still was able to appreciate what he took away from the moment.

From then on, McGrath said he became the type of person where you had to prove to him it was possible for him to believe it. It’s an attitude that has made him cautious with Lou Rosamilia’s current administration, as he said it seems to be letting issues slip away from it.

“They are misguided and naïve,” McGrath said, adding he considered them to be too nice. “And because they are naive, the residents will certainly suffer.”

McGrath said he was also concerned the current City Council may suffer a similar fate, but only because of the political ambitions of some of its members, along with the political infighting happening with the Democratic party.

“They’re going to ignore the job they’re supposed to do, which is keep an eye on the administration,” McGrath said. “Ultimately, the people of Troy will lose.”

McGrath has never been considered one to keep his mouth shut and share his opinion, a trait he openly admitted to. But he backed it up by saying he constantly did his homework to make sure he wasn’t fighting a losing battle. If you ask McGrath, he was right almost all of the time on any issue he would call his colleagues out on.

Now, McGrath is living a more reserved life as a driver for MediMobile, a job in which he transports people with mental and physical disabilities to where they need to go. He called it a rewarding experience because he is still in a position to help people.

“I give them a little bit of sunshine and a little bit of humor for a couple minutes a day,” McGrath said. “I make them laugh so hard. It’s great.”

When asked about the idea of coming back into the political world, McGrath said he would turn it down. However, McGrath said he would never close the door on an opportunity down the road.

“I love this city,” McGrath said. “I was born and raised here and spent my entire life here. If it comes to the point where the city is dangling off a cliff and needs some leadership, I wouldn’t say I would never re-enter.”